Past The Point Of Rescue
by Elza C. Boe
Summary: There was nothing left for him. Only the next fight and the next monster. Until he hit the bottom and found out that everything wasnt as black as it seemed.


So here it is. Another story from my twisted little brain. I never would have expected a Buffy/Supernatural x-over, as I find Supernatural really, really, really, REALLY depressing, but the Muse wanted Dean and the Muse got Dean. Many thanks to Victoria Plenti Wilde for beta reading it. Also I dont own anything Buffy or Supernatural related. That's it for now. I hope you like :P

He ran.

The beast was close behind him and he didn't delude himself that he could outrun it. It was faster than him even when he was at his best, but for now it was content to play with its prey.

Dean knew when he went into the forest, that this was a stupid idea, born from weeks of depression and too much whisky.

He should have taken more ammunition. Should have called for backup. Should have… Should have left it alone and just wallowed in in some god forsaken motel instead of trying – and to his surprise succeeding – to get himself killed.

The night was too dark, there was no moonlight, as the clouds drowned it in their darkness. The wind was blowing through the treetops in warning of the coming storm.

A branch hit him in the face, but he didn't even feel it. The pain was overshadowed by the burning in his abdomen. The wolf managed to tear strips of skin from his stomach, clawing quite deep and making movement very hard.

He managed to shoot him, but there were only three rounds left and he would need them if he wanted to reach his car at all. Not that he had a lot of hope for that. He could feel the consequences of the blood loss already and he still had two miles or so to run.

Wet leaves on the ground made him slip and before he could get back his balance he hit a rock and fell down a ravine. A great pain blossomed in his left leg when he finally hit a tree trunk at the bottom and he knew that this was the end of the road for him.

His ankle was probably sprained or broken and there was no way he could climb back on the path. Not that he really wanted to.

Everything hurt. His body, his heart, even his bloody soul.

There was nothing left for him to hold on to. Nobody who would love him or care, if he was still breathing. His parents dead, Sammy gone and her… She just left. After he finally overcame his fear of being abandoned and confessed his feelings for her, she left.

He never expected it to last. After all the women that loved and left him, he knew better. But there was that sliver of hope.

She knew everything about him. The good, the bad, the ugly and she still stayed with him. After Sam left this life, it was her that comforted him and reassured him that Sam only needed a breather. That he still had family. She was his angel of salvation, sent to him by God himself and Dean wanted nothing more than to bask in her caring presence.

It was her that healed his heart and made him brave enough to accept his feelings for her. And it was her that smashed it in tiny little pieces, which, he was sure, were never again going to mend.

He didn't want them to mend again. She was the one and he didn't want to settle with only second best, after he had already tasted heaven.

And he wouldn't have to.

The wolf was quietly circling him, but Dean still had enough presence of mind to know it was there.  
He still had three bullets left, which was enough to kill a werewolf, but he wouldn't make it out alive. This ravine was going to be his shallow grave. But he was going to take the werewolf with him. Dean Winchester wasn't going to let his prey get away from him.

A twig snapped on his left and he smiled. This was it.

"Oh, granny, what a horribly big mouth you have," he muttered to himself and tightened his grip on the gun.

He heard a snarl from his right and before he could react the werewolf was already on him. He tried to shoot him, but the gun was sent flying from his hand.

These were his last seconds of life, Dean realized in one moment of perfect clarity. He wished he could have done so much more, if nothing else he wanted to say sorry to Sam, but it was too late for regret.

Looking up, he stared at the black eyes of the creature that was going to end him for the last time and waited for that finishing blow.

But it never came.

Suddenly the wolf was yanked from him and lost its head in matter of seconds. Dean tried to see his rescuer, but the dark and the black spots dancing in front of him wouldn't allow it. His time came after all, even if the wolf was dead.

He closed his eyes and just before he was swallowed by the darkness he hear his angel's voice.

"Oh, no you don't. Dean Winchester, I didn't track you down through half the country so you could die on me!"

xXx

When he opened his eyes again everything surrounding him was white. The walls, the curtains on the windows, the furniture, the door. White in a sea of whiteness.

He set up in the bed, wondering where he was.

The last moments that he could remember were staring the wolf in the eyes. Was he dead? Was he in heaven? It looked very biblical from his point of view, but there was still hope that there were other colors besides white here.

He pulled up his – white – T-shirt to check for the wound that should be there, but there was nothing to show that there was once a gaping hole.

Heaven sure was quiet.

He expected angels singing on every corner and maybe a field of flowers on clouds or something. Call him a chick, but this wasn't what he expected to find in heaven. Or maybe it was hell.

The door opened and a redheaded woman dressed in white came in.

"I see you're finally awake." She smiled at him. She was pretty, for an angel, but couldn't really compare to his… Never mind. Shouldn't the pain go away now that he was dead?

"I thought you would be a blond." _She_ was blond after all and she wasn't even a real angel. He should ask for his money back.

The angel looked at him confused. "Why would I be blond? I have red hair. I like my red hair. Might even go so far as to say that I love my red hair. Not that being blond is bad, 'cause it's not, but I would look weird with blond hair."

"Whoa there, pretty lady. Hold your horses. It's just a funny expectation I had."

She cocked her head to the side. "What kind of expectation?"

Shrugging his shoulders, he mumbled. "You know, the blond angels thing."

She just stared at him. "Oh. OH! No, Dean, you're not dead. We found you just in time to save you." In a blink of an eye she was beside him, trying to reassure him that this was real.

He looked around the white room again and then raised an eyebrow at her. She blushed and started to stammer, but he put her out of her misery, before she could start to babble again. "So if this isn't heaven, then where am I?"

She looked relieved to have an actual question to answer to. "Just a few miles out of Rio."

Made him stop for a second. They couldn't have… Could they? What the hell? "Rio as in Brazil?"

She nodded sheepishly. "Yeah."

How the hell did he get to Rio? Better yet, who would want to take him to Rio? "What am I doing in Brazil? Last I remember I was in Ohio."

She shrunk even more into herself and started quickly shooting out words. "Um… I might have possibly teleported you here. But it was an emergency and I promise your car is safe and without even one scratch."

"My car? Why would my car be scratched?"

She looked away from him and then changed the topic. "Ummm. Sam called. We told him what happened and he is on his way here."

Sorry sweet cheeks, not gonna fly with him. "That's great. Now what were you saying about my car?"

She sighed and told him in a matter-of-fact voice. "You parked it in the woods. We had to move it. Nothing happened. But the tree came really close to hitting us."

He closed his eyes, praying that his baby survived whoever drew her. He would need to check on her once they were reunited again.

"You said something about Sam?"

She nodded again, happy that the car conversation was behind her. "He wanted to talk to you, but you were still unconscious and he took the first plane to Rio he could. He should be here in an hour or so."

Great. Now he will have to listen to bitchy Sam, who will probably try to make him stop hunting. Or at least get himself a partner. Either way, he would have to endure an hour of hovering. "And who are you again?"

She giggled and waved at him. "Oh, we never actually met, did we? I'm Willow, Buffy's best friend." The name hit him hard. Even in his mind he avoided using her name as it only hurt more.

"Is she…?" He couldn't continue. Didn't really know what he wanted to ask.

Willow's voice was gentler this time. "She's in the kitchen, being fed by Andrew, who flew here an hour ago. He's the only one who was able to get her out of this room for more than five minutes. Even after she knew you would live to see another day, she refused to leave your side."

A spark of memory appeared in his mind. Or were those just his hallucinations? "Was it her? In the forest?"

She busied herself with straightening the pillow while she answered. "Yeah. She called me when she saw how injured you were and I brought you here."

He didn't get it. She left him. Went out of her way to be gone before he could react. What the hell was she doing in that forest? "Why?"

Willow gave him a disapproving stare. "She's my friend. Why wouldn't I help her if she called?"

Wrong question. "No, I mean why was she there?"

But before Willow could answer, a voice from the doorway signed the presence of another person in the room. "I followed you there."

He didn't want to, but _had_ to look at her. Her hair was put in some weird version of a braid, but a few strands still managed to escape. She wore her favorite jeans and a white top with one of his shirts over it.

Her skin was pale and there were dark circles under her eyes, but she looked abso-fucking-lutely beautiful to him.

"Buffy." He didn't know if it was a plea or an accusation. He just wanted to hug her tight and never let go, but the hurt in his heart was still very much present.

She moved a few feet closer to him, but stopped before she could get within his arms' reach. "Dean, I'm so sorry I left. I just… You caught me unprepared. I needed to think. Somewhere you wouldn't influence my mind."

The words got him mad. He wanted to hit something, to break things. She was sorry? She better be sorry. The shit she pulled would get anybody else shot! "I waited for you for days!"

His shout startled her for a moment, but then she answered with her own shout. "I told you I don't date for a reason! Every man I ever loved hurt me and left me!"

Pulling at his hair he started to pace through the room. The redhead disappeared after Buffy came to the room and he was grateful for that. He didn't want anybody here with them. "So you decided you would leave first, this time around?"

She gave him a desperate look and her voice got a pleading sound at the end. "No! But I needed to think. I needed to talk to somebody who wasn't involved in this."

She looked so vulnerable and all he wanted to do was to hug her. But he couldn't just let her back in. The pain of losing was not worth repeating. "Why didn't you say anything before you just disappeared?"

His back was turned to her, but he could almost feel her shoulders slumping. "I'm sorry, I just… I panicked, ok? There you were in all your perfection and suddenly you love me? It just spelled badness. But I got over it. Or to be more precise, Dawn beat some sense into me."

Her words mended his heart, bit by bit, but there was still a chunk, bleeding by his feet. A chunk she tore out. "What stops you from leaving again?"

There was silence in the room. He resigned himself to the fact that this was it. Turning around he was about to tell her that they were better off separated when she finally answered. "Because I fell in love with you and I just can't function without you near me. You scared the shit out of me, almost dying, and I... I'm not gonna let you die."

He heard her, he did, but he couldn't focus past that one word that just made everything look so much better. "You love me?"

The love was evident in her eyes when she answered again, for the whole world to see, even if it was only him in the room. "I love you."

There were many feelings rolling through him. Elation, love, hope, rage, confusion, doubt. They were making him dizzy. But he knew what he wanted, what he needed. He could think things through latter and they would have to sort this through, but right now that didn't matter.

"Just… Come here. I need to hold you for a minute."

His happy ending was finally within reach. Not here yet, but close.

They were both in too deep to turn away from each other. She needed more time to accept that? He could live with that. After all, they were both past the point of rescue.

So? What do you think? What was your favorite part? I would sell my soul for a few comments... I'd even find a crossroad (witch is like ten steps from my house, whatever) and make a deal with whoever shows up... Please don't make me sell my soul... I want to be the ghost that hounts people after death, not in hell (although if somebody brought hotdogs I could probably manage)


End file.
